Foles leads Arizona past Oregon State

Sep 27, 2009 - 3:59 AM
CORVALLIS, Ore.(AP) -- Nick Foles passed for 254 yards and three
touchdowns in his first start and the Arizona Wildcats shrugged
off the loss of leading rusher Nic Grigsby to beat Oregon State
37-32 Saturday in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.

Making his first start as a college quarterback, Foles was
patient and precise in directing the Wildcats' spread offense,
which carved up Oregon State's inexperienced secondary.

James Rodgers had eight catches for 119 yards for the Beavers.
Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns and also
caught 13 passes for 70 yards. Sean Canfield was 31-of-47 for
303 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He was sacked
five times.

The Beavers (2-2) fell behind 28-17 in the third quarter and had
three chances for a winning drive. Starting at their own 3 with
just over three minutes left in the game, the Beavers completed
three passes, but Canfield was picked off by Devin Ross.

Arizona (3-1) went three-and-out, but punter Keeyan Crier pinned
Oregon State to its 2, and the Beaver offensive line wilted. On
the first play, Canfield was dumped in the end zone for a
safety. The Beavers recovered the on-side kick, but Canfield was
sacked twice more to end the game.

The Beavers are 109th in the country in passing defense.

Foles, the 6-foot-5 sophomore with a big arm, completed 25 of 34
passes and ran an efficient and effective offense even though
Grigsby was lost to a shoulder injury after just one carry and
backup tailback Keolo Antolin was slowed by a leg injury. In
their absence, redshirt freshman Greg Nwoko had 76 receiving and
44 yards rushing.

Foles, who replaced Matt Scott as the starter this week, started
out strong, coolly completing five of his first seven passes on
deliberate 15-play, 71-yard scoring drive capped with a 2-yard
strike to Delashaun Dean.

The Beavers tied up the game with an 11-yard touchdown pass from
Canfield to Damola Adeniji and led 17-14 lead at halftime.

The Wildcats took the lead in the third after Trevin Wade
intercepted Canfield's pass, setting up Foles' 1-yard TD run.
Foles also connected with Nwoko for a 52-yard reception and
found Juron Crier for a 3-yard touchdown pass four plays later.

Jacquizz Rodgers scored on a three-yard run and James Rodgers
ran in the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 28-25.

But starting the drive at the Beaver 45, Foles engineered a
five-play drive and found Terrell Turner wide open in the end
zone.

Canfield threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Nichols that
got the Beavers within 35-32.

Four of the last six meeting between the two teams have been
decided by seven points or less.